Cycling: Astana becomes latest team to stop racing due to coronavirus

[March 05, 2020]  (Reuters) - Astana became the latest team to withdraw from racing amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Kazakh outfit said on Thursday.

Race organizers in Italy, Europe's most affected country by the outbreak, said on Thursday they were cancelling Saturday's Strade Bianche one-day race after Rome decided to hold events without fans.

Organizers have not yet said whether the Milan-Sanremo major classic and the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race - both scheduled for later this month - will go ahead.

"We have chosen to protect the health of our riders and staff and to take our responsibility for the society in not further spreading the virus," said Astana manager Alexandre Vinokourov, whose team has withdrawn from racing until March 20.

Australia's Mitchelton-Scott, Dutch outfit Jumbo-Visma, France's Groupama-FDJ and Britain's Ineos had already pulled out of at least the Strade Bianche race in the Siena province.

Ineos, also citing the death of sports director Nicolas Portal as a reason, will not take part in any race until March 23, meaning defending champion and Tour de France winner Egan Bernal will be absent from the Paris-Nice stage race that starts on Sunday.

Mitchelton-Scott, also, will not race at all until March 22.

Astana Pro Team manager Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan looks on before the team training session in Utrecht, Netherlands, July 2, 2015. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

With a peloton forming a 180-rider pack, riders sharing rooms and team buses, drinking from bottles prepared by team staff and often being in proximity of fans, cycling is considered to be a sport where the virus can spread easily.

Most of the top races in March are being held in Italy, where more than 3,000 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus and over 100 have died.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.